yeah, thats an electric fridge, and a classic hack-job, to boot. looks "ok", I guess...but severely limits the utility of an rv. I would only do such a thing if a: I was never, ever going to sell it
b: it was permanently parked in a place where electricity is available 24/7/365.

And if you're gonna rip out the whole wall partition, why not just put in a full-sized fridge? all the space above it is simply wasted. (sigh). It'd be one thing if they just left the partition wall there, and slid an electric unit into place. Now someone else could easily install a gas unit, if they so desired. But the mod they did nearly prevents that from happening...unless they saved all the pieces so it can be put back the way it was....which, I'm betting they didn't.

If you look at my photo gallery, you'll see what it is supposed to look like. Click on my name, then click "view gallery uploads". There's a bunch of pics there, so when you browse to the second page, the number of pages will expand...go to page 8 to see some interior shots. There's no "straight-on" view of the fridge, but you can see the original partition, and also see the fact that the fridge is a "new" (i.e. not original) gas fridge. The retrofit was done so well, you can't tell that it isn't original, except by looking at the shiny black door of the fridge itself.
That partition wall needs to be there in order to encase the back of the fridge, for the chimney effect, as I said earlier.

.........................

to attach pictures to a post:
when you're in a composition window (creating a post), scroll down and you'll see a button that says "manage attachments". a new window will open, and you'll be able to browse for the file location on your hard drive. click the "upload" button. Then you can close that, and click the "submit reply" button to finish your post. the pic will appear in your post.

OR...you can do what you did, by inserting a link.
in addition, you can surround that link with IMG tags. {IMG}http://path.to.picture{/IMG}.
except, use "[" instead of "{"

OR...click the button above the composition window. hover the mouse over each button, till you find the one that says "insert image". this does the same thing as the above, basically, but you just have to put the path to your image into the window that opens.

Welcome to the Forums - congrats on doing due diligence prior to purchasing Vintage.

I was in Maryland Heights just this past weekend - from Washington, MO originally.

On the axles - ANY Airstream axle over 15 years old needs replacing - fact of life....unless it was up on frame jacks when not in use. Rubber Torsion Axles take a "set" over time - expecially when supporting almost 100% of the axle weight rating all of the time.

A new Axle will run between $1200 and $1600 delivered to your door - the newer axles have a better rubber compound - but even with the newer compound an axle is iffy after 10 years or so, maybe sooner.

MOST important is the condition of the frame and the floor - if ANY rot is found in the floor the overall integrity of the unit is compromised. Ditto with the frame - Light (interpret that to mean weaker) frames were built around the Airstream commitment to a "monocoque" design - the frame, floor, and shell work together to create the required strength - take away any one of these (or the "bond" between any two) and overall faillure is imminent.

LOTS of "artists" have been here in the past and put a sh*tgob of time and money into a "pretty" interior and entirely ignored the frame/floor/shell and the respective interfaces - big mistake - huge mistake.

Fix the essentials first, then go for the pretty - but watch the weight additive.

Do LOTS of research on those who have successfully rubuilt a trailer with proper photographic documentation here in the Forums. No sense reinventing the wheel - or climbing your own learning curve - use the experience of those that have ventured boldly where no Airstream Newbie has gone before.

Purchasing a vintage rebuild could be a good thing - but only if you (or someone you rent, pay, or bribe) know what to look for and have some idea of what the time/cost/quality of each component would be.

LOTS of Airstreams of all ages for sale right now (or will be shortly) - don't feel as if you have to jump on the first one that catches your eye - more will be for sale next week or next month.

DO be prepared to pay a premium dollar for a rebuild that has been done right - take into account the cost of materials, space, tools, and aggravation necessary to run down the various parts and install them - then think of the cost if the rebuilder were even to attempt to get back $5 or $10 and hour for his (or her) time invested.

first of all thanks to everyone who has responded with their comments and expertise...it is greatly appreciated...

I called the seller today to schedule an appt for tomorrow....a couple of things....he told me he still had the parts from the fridge mod (and still has the gas/electric fridge which needs repair)....if I purchase it, I will probably buy a new one and try to reconfigure it back to the original design, assuming the parts are usable....

I asked him about the axle...he did not replace it and does not know if it is the original or not...so I'm going to assume it will probably need to be replaced...

To anyone reading....what specifically should I look for WRT the axle? 87MH says anything over 15 years will need replacement...if you don't know the age, what specific conditions of wear should a buyer look for?

the current seller has only had it for a year, most of the 'upgrades' were done by the previous owner....it does have a grey water tank installed....the current seller said he pulled it from Montana and they were very happy with how it handled on the single axle (the typical 'had to check' to make sure we were towing response)

to all....

thank you so much for your input....this forum is an amazing resource....I will try to upload some pics depending on whether or not my first impression is sufficient to warrant them....

first of all thanks to everyone who has responded with their comments and expertise...it is greatly appreciated...

I called the seller today to schedule an appt for tomorrow....a couple of things....he told me he still had the parts from the fridge mod (and still has the gas/electric fridge which needs repair)....if I purchase it, I will probably buy a new one and try to reconfigure it back to the original design, assuming the parts are usable....

I asked him about the axle...he did not replace it and does not know if it is the original or not...so I'm going to assume it will probably need to be replaced...

To anyone reading....what specifically should I look for WRT the axle? 87MH says anything over 15 years will need replacement...if you don't know the age, what specific conditions of wear should a buyer look for?

the current seller has only had it for a year, most of the 'upgrades' were done by the previous owner....it does have a grey water tank installed....the current seller said he pulled it from Montana and they were very happy with how it handled on the single axle (the typical 'had to check' to make sure we were towing response)

to all....

thank you so much for your input....this forum is an amazing resource....I will try to upload some pics depending on whether or not my first impression is sufficient to warrant them....